Higley Unified School District officials want to move forward on schools

by Hayley Ringle - Oct. 12, 2012 10:19 AMThe Republic | azcentral.com

Higley officials want to move forward on the district's first middle schools for seventh- and eighth-graders because of what it sees as expected growth in the area.

The middle schools would ease projected overcrowding at the eight elementary schools, which would turn into K-6 schools if the middle schools open, Higley officials say.

"This year's sixth- and seventh-graders are two of the biggest classes Higley has ever seen," said Justin Greene, Higley's executive director of system services. "We're expecting 900 freshmen in two years and 1,000 freshmen in three years."

In 2006-07, Higley had 6,700 students. This year, Higley will have an estimated 11,000 students, which is a 64 percent increase in student enrollment, district spokeswoman Emily Gersema said.

"Given our pace of housing construction in our district, which is not at build-out yet, we expect to continue to grow for the next several years," she said.

Boundary changes would be discussed in December by the governing board if construction starts on the middle schools, and community parent meetings are also planned, Gersema said.

The Elona Ranch site, near Recker Road and the Loop 202, must be named after the Cooley family.

Higley acquired the land in June 2006 through a donation/purchase from the family. Higley bought 22.3 acres for $7.2 million, and the Cooley family donated 2.1 acres, she said.

The other middle-school site in Sossaman Estates, near Power and Queen Creek roads, was also a donation/purchase from the Sossaman family. The name for this school has not been decided.

In February 2006, the Higley school board approved a $3.4 million purchase of 11.2 acres of land, and Lennar Communities Development and the Ryland Group each donated 11.2 acres for the more than 34-acre site, Gersema said.

The third building outlined in the voter pamphlet with the lease option will not be pursued by Higley at this time, Gersema said. The original plan was to build a teacher-training building behind the district office, and lease out the remaining space.

"Higley recently did a financial analysis and concluded this is not the right time to take action on the third building," she said. "We decided we would rather focus on efforts to serve students in the middle-school grades. Those are the first priorities."